Twilight Princess - Left Behind
by DynoStretch
Summary: Taking place a year after the events of the game, Link has returned back to his home village to find it in a bad state. But worst of all, his closest friend has gone through a shocking experience, and it's going to take more then just the courage of the legendary hero to fix their broken bonds.
1. Chapter 1 - Return to Ordon

Hello fanfiction readers, writers and flamers, from my bizarre mind I bring you this piece of Zelda fanfiction. The story takes place about a year after the events of Twilight Princess' ending, and while I'm trying to follow the canon of the game, there might be a hiccup or two in the continuity, as it's been forever since I played the game. I do hope you guys like this story, it's been something I've been thinking of for quite some time but never got around to getting it on paper, erm, computer.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

A lone male figure, riding on a horse moved steadily through the forest grove of Ordona Province. A small flower monster called a Deku Baba popped out from it's hiding place, ready to snipe the man with a projectile nut to the head, but one glare from said man at the Baba sent the creature back into hiding. The man kept traveling to their destination as the Baba peeked back out nervously.

The figure soon stopped the horse upon reaching a wooden sign all too familiar to them. It read 'Ordon Village'. The figure gulped a little, looking towards his destination.

'Been a long time since I've been here…' he thought '…maybe a whole year by this point? I wonder what they'll think now that I've returned…'

The man was a young healthy 20 year old. Sporting blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic physic, and donning a green tunic and cap. He was known as the legendary hero of Hyrule, Link. He had been born in Ordon Village, and lived there as a talented rancher for a long 18 years before some villagers had been abducted by marauders. He had set off to their rescue, but got caught up in a destiny chosen by the great goddesses, to team up with a fallen princess and save two worlds from a legion of dark powers.

Link returned to his life back in Ordon Village shortly afterwards, but much to everyone's shock, a few weeks later he disappeared, without a word to anyone.

'Well, here goes nothing…' he thought as he clicked his heels on his horse, named Epona, to keep moving into the village. However, he was unaware that he was being watched by a shadowy figure in the trees.

Upon entering the village, Link shouted, "Hey everyone! I've retur-"

Link's call was almost instantly cut off when the shadowy figure leapt from its hiding place and attacked Link, smashing into him and knocking him off his trusty steed.

"Hey!" Link shouted, laying on the ground with the figure on top of him, "Who was th-"

"Silence fiend!" shouted the figure, who was now starting to sound very familiar. "No one enters this place without paying the toll!"

"Hi Talo…" Link muttered. "Can you get off me now?"

"First toll, then I get off!" The figure, now identified as the young, brash kid of Ordon Village, Talo. He was folding his arms smugly as he sat on Link's back.

"Come on Talo, he's a special, extra-cute case, so he gets the discount rate." said another more friendly voice. Link looked over to see a mischievous young girl he identified as Beth. Alongside her was a young blonde boy named Colin and a short, infant-looking boy named Malo. "Link, it's been a long time!"

"Y-You're back Mr. Link!" Colin said , "I'm glad y-you're safe!"

"…bout time you got back…" muttered Malo, glancing to the side darkly.

"Hey kids, I'd get up to greet you, but I have an annoying thing on my back." Link said in an annoyed tone as he was reaching behind, trying to pull Talo off him.

Beth just grinned, walking up to Link and pinching his right cheek really hard. "It's okay, he just wants to make sure you don't up and leave again!"

Link glanced to the side nervously. "Point taken. Can I get up now?"

Talo reluctantly got off Link, who finally stood up straight. "Glad to see you guys are okay. How's the village?"

"Eh, could be better." Beth said.

"Really? How so?" Link asked.

His question was almost immediately answered as a herd of goats charged by them, all baaing loudly. A few villagers were following after them in pursuit. Link also noticed how many of the houses were worse for wear, some with large cracks, debris cluttered everywhere, and he could swear the local tavern had a fishing boat sticking out of one of it's walls. A few monkeys were clamoring around on various buildings. As one villager was applying some fishing touches to a house he was repairing, a monkey jumped across the roof, causing the entire house to collapse.

"I…. see…" Link said as a drop of sweat ran down his head.

"Let's just say things have been real bad since you left." Beth said, "Heck, you should see poor Ilia."

"Ilia…" muttered Link, thinking about his longtime childhood friend. He turned his head to the home of Ordon's mayor Bo, and his daughter Ilia.

"Honestly I think she's been through the worst of it. She's really changed." Beth said with a sigh.

"Maybe I should go talk to them and find out how things ended up this way." Link said, walking off towards the house. The kids just watched as Link left.

"Hmmm, yep, all this time has passed and Link still wins the Cutest Butt Award." Beth said grinning.

"What are you, a perverted old man?" asked Talo.

* * *

Link soon arrived at the mayor's house, where Bo was hammering at a broken fence on his house's patio. He turned to Link and waved.

"Link my boy, is that you?" he asked, "It's been too long!"

"Mayor Bo!" Link greeted, "It's great to see you again!"

The mayor dropped his tools, walked right up to Link, and gave him a spine-breaking hug.

"Hahaha!" he shouted "You look as if you haven't changed a bit!"

"Urk!" Link gasped, feeling his waist getting crushed under Bo's powerful grip. "I'm glad to be back, but can you let go of me before I snap in half?!"

Bo unceremoniously dropped Link to the ground "Ha, you may have done well against me in sumo-wrestling, but if you can't even take a simple hug from me you won't stand a chance in a tournament!"

"That was simple?!" Link shouted with an exaggerated jaw drop.

Link decided at that point to change the subject. "So, what's going on around here?" he asked. "I left for a while, returned, and the whole village is an uproar."

Bo's expression went from jolly to depressed as he let out a sigh. "Seems we haven't had much luck around here. We thought things would be more peaceful once you kicked that bastard dark legion was kicked out of the kingdom, but a lot of their goons have been assembling into gangs, and attacking towns."

"How many times has this happened here?" Link asked, looking out at the wrecked town.

"In the past year we've been attacked about three times. They seem to come every few months or so." Bo said. "Also without your skill in goat-wrangling and dealing with the wild monkeys, rebuilding hasn't been easy."

Link grimaced a little. "I=I'm sorry… I didn't realize I had caused you guys so much trouble leaving."

Bo panicked and held up his hands "Er, I'm sorry for phrasing it like that. I didn't mean to make it sound like we have to depend on you for everything!"

"Thanks, but I do feel some responsibility for this." Link said. "Um, by the way, where's Ilia? I wanted to see her."

"Oh, Ilia…?" Bo said nerviously, "She's up in her room. You're welcome to go see her,… but I don't think you'd want to talk to her right now…"

"It'll be fine." Link said, walking through the front door, "I've seen her at her worse."

As Link entered Bo and Ilia's house, he called out "Ilia, It's me, Link! I'm back!"

No answer.

"Ilia?" Link called out as he went over to the ladder that led up to her floor of the house. "Hey, I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I was hoping we could have a chat about how you've been since… I… left…" His words started to slow down and come to a stop when he finally was high enough to look into her room and see Ilia.

While it was easy to recognize her short blonde hair, and green eyes, that's where the familiarly ended. Ilia was sitting on her bed, reading a book with one hand, while her other hand was reaching out to a large plate of sweet rolls set by her. She was blindly taking them from the plate and eating them as she gazed at the book. She was always a trim, small girl, but now it seemed she had put on a considerable amount of weight. She wasn't just a little pudgy, but straight-out obese, even more so then her father. Replacing her standard white dress and brown shorts was a large tent dress that hugged her larger figure.

Besides her body size, her demeanor had also changed quite a lot. Her once bright and gentle self now looked angry and bored. She turned her head to Link, looking at him coldly.

"I-Ilia…" Link muttered, "Wha-"

Ilia just took another roll from her plate and bit into it, chewing it and staring at Link. She swallowed and muttered a cold "Get out."

"I-Ilia, you-"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" She shouted angrily, grabbing a vase and throwing it at Link's head. He quickly dodged it, but a book managed to bean him.

"Ilia wait, I-"

But Link couldn't get a word in as Ilia started throwing more and more stuff at him. He quickly shifted left and right as he gripped the ladder, avoiding chairs, books, pottery and a raccoon, until he was finally hit by a stool which caused him to fall off the ladder and land on his back.

"Get out of here you bastard!" Link heard Ilia shout from the second floor.

"So… I take it you didn't want to talk?" he asked, still laying on the floor, twitching in pain.

That's when Ilia's bed came hurling down.

* * *

"Wow Link, she was cross with you in the past, but the whole bed?" asked Uli, wife of Link's mentor Rusl, and mother of Colin, dabbing at a bruise on Link's face with a piece of cotton with alcohol on it. Bo had managed to pull Link's wounded body out from under the bed and carried him off to Uli and Rusl's house for treatment.

"Yeah, I think I should had just ran after the first vase…" Link groaned, cringing in pain as the alcohol stung.

"Just be glad she wasn't near my blacksmithing anvil." Bo said, "Jaggle is still in bad shape after he made a comparison between her and it."

"Mr. Link, are you okay?" Colin asked, looking at him with his biggest, poutiness look. "I-I can't believe Ilia did all that to you of all people."

"Yeah, don't worry. I've dealt with worse during my journey. By the way, have you been keeping up with your sword training?"

"Y-Yeah!" Colin said, pumping his fists. "I wanted to show you how I improved!"

"Okay," Link said grinning, "maybe when I'm better we can have a little practice. I've learned a few new techniques myself."

Colin nodded eagerly and ran out the door to practice more.

"He's always trying to put on a strong face around the village," Uli said, smiling warmly, "But he always gets nervous when he's around you Link."

"Oh don't flatter the guy," Rusl said with a smug grin, as he drank some booze, "Link was always like that with me when he was still a kid!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Link muttered, leaning his chin on his palm. He looked over to Bo, looking a little more serious. "Bo, I erm, wanted to ask you about Ilia…"

Bo raised an eyebrow in response. Uli and Rusl just looked to each other nervously.

"Just what is it that happened to her?" Link asked. "She looks so…"

Bo frowned a little as Link paused.

"…depressed." Link finished.

Bo's expression lightened a little. He sighed and said "Well I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this. She's been acting like this since right around the time you left."

"I…I thought so…" Link said sadly.

"Which reminds me…" said Rusl, "What exactly was with you leaving like you did? You just went up and left the village without so much as a goodbye."

"Yes, where did you go?" Uli asked, "We were going to invite you to dinner that night, but Bo and Ilia said you left with Epona."

"Erm…" Link started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as the three adults stared at him, waiting for a response. "It's a long story… let's just say I was looking for something…"

"Well I don't see why that's any excuse to not tell us." said Uli, who despite sporting a sweet smile, was purposely dabbing a little extra alcohol on one of Link's bigger wounds, causing him to cringe so badly his hair stood on end.

"R-Regardless of that," Link said, "I do plan to help fix things around here. I've come home, and I don't plan on leaving again." He paused for a bit "That is, you guys will have me back."

Bo just gave a wide grin. "Of course Link, we wouldn't let our best ranch-hand get away!"

"Yes, Colin would be thrilled to know you're back for good." Uli said, "and I can't wait to show you how much our daughter Emma has grown!"

"Fine, fine." Rusl said, gulping some more booze. "Just don't go taking off without a warning again."

"Alright then, I have to get the goats and monkeys under control, see what I can do about those marauders, and try and fix things with Ilia!" Link said, standing up. "I'll settle things in no time!"

Link then took two steps before falling on his face.

"Owwww… my legs…"

"Maybe you should get some rest first." Uli said.

"Maybe I should…" Link muttered.

* * *

Well, that concludes chapter 1. I'm going to get started on chapter 2 soon. I hope some people don't take too much offense who how I'm depicting Ilia so far. I can assure you she's going to get some better character development as the story continues.


	2. Chapter 2 - Taking Care of Buisness

Okay, time for chapter 2!

* * *

Not far from the village, a pack of goats were wandering around, eating grass, and doing other goat-related matters. One the goats rose it's head up, sensing something. The other goats turned to it, wondering what was the matter. The lead goat broke out into a cold sweat as it heard a certain sound. It hadn't heard this sound in a long time, but the goat could never forget it.

The goats all turned in the direction of the sound to see a large brown horse charging at them, and on her back was a familiar young blonde haired man, grinning evilly.

"Hey boys, remember us?" Link shouted to the goats.

The goats all baaed loudly in sync, their bodies were trembling as tears ran down their eyes. They all turned tail and ran as Link and Epona followed after them.

The villagers of Ordon village all watched as the goats ran right into the village, mindful not to knock anymore stuff over then they usually did. They all ran into their ranch pen, and the last one to run in used his mouth to close the door behind him.

"Well I'll be…" said one of the villagers.

"Only one guy can herd the goats like that…" said another.

* * *

Needless to say, Link's return was the talk of the town. Many of them asked questions about what where he had gone, or what he had seen, or in the case of some of the younger guys what the ladies were like in other places. Link tried to answer as best he could while remaining vague about his reasons for leaving.

A few days went by, and eventually things were finally starting to wind down to normal.

* * *

"HOOOIII! LIIIINK!"

Link groaned as he forced himself out of bed, almost stumbling out in the process.

"Alright I'm up I'm up…" Link muttered. He quickly got dressed and climbed down the ladder to see Rusl calling out to him.

"Hey Link, the goats need to be herded back into the pen, can you give us a hand?"

"Yeah, sure, I just need to get Epona and I'll be… be…."

Link's head lowered as he fell asleep again, a bubble rising out from his nose.

"Heh, all this time and you're still a heavy sleeper." Rusl said. He pulled out his sword and poked Link's bubble, causing it to pop and instantly wake Link up.

"Gah! Okay, I'm going!"" Link said, rushing off to go track down Epona.

* * *

It didn't take long for Link to find Epona. In a small lake not too far outside the village known as Ordon Spring. It was home to the spirit of light Ordona, a mystical being who helped Link begin his quest to save Hyrule.

Usually though, this was where Ilia often escorted Epona to in order to clean and heal the horse. Sure enough when Link reached the spring, there was Epona, snorting and swinging her tail about, while his childhood friend was standing by her, softly brushing the horse's hair. She still wore the tent dress from yesterday, along with some long brown pants, and was humming a soft little tune as she brushed Epona.

Link, having not seen Ilia since their little encounter back at Bo's house, gulped nervously as he walked up to the girl and horse.

"H-Hey, Ilia?"

Ilia just stopped her cleaning. She stood still and just stared at Epona.

"…she's really been through a lot since you left… she has a few injuries and scars I don't remember her having…" Ilia muttered.

"Sorry…" Link said, "We got into a few mishaps during the time we were out."

"…don't apologize to me, apologize to Epona." Ilia said, going back to tending Epona's injuries.

"S-So… I take it you're still upset about me leaving…?" Link asked pointlessly, already knowing the answer.

"…upset? Why what ever gave you that idea…?" Ilia asked darkly, her hand was clenched and crushed the brush she was holding in half. Link and Epona's faces paled.

"Ilia…" Link said, "I heard about how upset you were about me leaving… I… had some important things to do and…"

"A-And you thought you should just up and leave without telling anyone?" Ilia asked, she was clearly starting to tremble. "Did you not even care what anyone would think if you just ran off for good?!"

"I… I didn't want anyone finding out, because I didn't know when, or if, I'd be back…" Link said. "I was afraid you might try and stop me…"

"….E-Epona should be good and ready now…" Ilia said. She slowly waddled out from the lake, got onto dry land, and with some effort, leaned down and rug the water out from her pants. "Just go easier on her okay...?"

"Okay…" Link said as he watched her waddle slowly off back to the village before going to retrieve Epona.

* * *

A group of monkeys were lounging around the house of one of the villagers. They had managed to scare the family away and claimed the place as their own. One was hanging by his tail making loud ook sounds, one was using his feet to pick up bananas and squeezing them until the fruit shot into his mouth, one was parading around in a dress he found, and a rather big monkey was sleeping on a throne he built with lumber from the house, snoring loudly. The banana-eating monkey casually threw a banana peel through the air and it landed in some nearby bushes.

"Ewww!" said a voice from the bushes, but the voice was quickly silenced. The monkeys looked oddly at the bushes, only to resume their activiies two seconds later.

"Quiet down Beth, they'll hear you!" Link said in a loud whisper from behind the bushes. Along with him were Talo, Beth, Colin and Malo.

Beth pulled the peel off her head muttered "Ugh, I hate those filthy smell apes…"

"Ha, yer such a girl!" Talo said.

"Oh yeah?" Beth said, "Why don't you go chat with them, I bet you guys would get along great!"

"P-Please stop fighting so loudly… at least fight quietly…" Colin said nervously.

"….can we just get on with this?" Malo asked, not even bothering to have to duck due to his tiny size.

"Okay, let's get started with Operation: Monkey See Monkey Gone!" Link said.

"….do you have a backup plan with a less-stupid name?" Malo asked, glancing to the side.

"Did you guys bring the stuff I asked for?" Link asked, ignoring Malo.

"Yep!" Talo said proudly, holding up a beehive still attached to a branch.

"I got this…" Colin said, pulling out a jar of molasses.

"Perfect, now we just need some of these guys…" Link said, pulling out a sack of small little bug-like creatures.

"Eh? What are they?" Beth asked.

"….aren't those Bomblings?" Malo asked. He paused for a few seconds and muttered "Good plan…"

As the monkeys continued to create a riot, the one dangling by his tail noticed a Bombling walking right up to them. All the monkeys stopped their activities and stared down at it in confusion. The biggest one noticed it had a jar of black stuff tied to it. The monkeys all looked to each other in confusion, not aware of what it actually was.

Then it happened, the Bombling exploded. The explosion was very weak, but left the monkeys covered in the molasses from head to toe. They all stood still and blankly, not able to comprehend what just happened.

The biggest monkey forced himself up, angry about being covered in the sticky goo and shouted out. The others followed suit, shouting and thrashing about.

Then came down the beehive.

The hive broke upon hitting the ground, unleashing a huge swarm of bees. The monkeys' eyes all shrunk down to the size of dots as the swarm loomed overhead, sensed the sweet nectar the monkeys were covered in, and then dived down.

Needless to say, it didn't take too long before the sticky monkeys ran out of the village, being pursued by the bees.

"Whoo!" Talo said, raising his fists in triumph. "Monkey crisis averted!"

"T-That worked perfectly, a deadly bee weapon!" Colin said, his eyes sparkling.

"We can always count on you to handle any crazy animal situations Link!" Beth said, putting her hands to her cheeks and blushing.

"…well, I guess I have no choice." Malo muttered before turning and walking off.

"Eh, where you going Malo?" Link asked.

"…since we've scared off the monkey hoard, shouldn't we celebrate?" Malo said, holding up a bag of rupees. "I'll treat…"

Link and the kids all grinned and followed after Malo.

* * *

At the Ordon marketplace, some traveling merchants had set up stands and carriages, eager to sell their supplies to the villagers. One particular older looking man had set up a table of various sweets and pastries.

"Hey Tort!" shouted a merchant nearby the old man, "How's business been?"

"Oh, very good." Tort said, scratching his rather massive forehead. "I didn't use to come back here as often as I do now. I relay on a repeat customer who loves me and the wife's cooking. In fact, judging from the sun, she should be coming right about now."

"Hello Mr. Trot!" said a voice. Tort looked over to see Ilia, clad in a large spring dress and hat. She had a large basket of goods in one hand and waving with the other. She waddled slowly up to Tort's stand and looked over his supply.

"Ilia, my dear!" Tort said, "Going shopping for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, father's been getting bored of fish every night, so I purchased some cucco meat. I'm hoping to try out a new ingredient, like tangerines to go with it." She said, sporting a small smile.

"So, are you here for your usual, two dozen sweet rolls?" he asked, lifting up a large box and placing it down on the stand. Ilia just stared at the box longingly, she could feel her mouth water at the thought.

"Ooooh yes!" she said. "Are you sure you can't sell me the recipe?"

"Sorry, but no dice." chuckled Tort. "With your cooking skills you'd put me out of business!"

As Ilia was about to pay for the sweet rolls, she heard someone shout "Make way! Vanquishers of monkeys coming!"

Ilia blinked and looked over at Talo, raising a wooden sword and swinging it around, while Beth, Colin, Malo and Link were following.

"Hey, quit swinging around that sword, you're gonna hurt someone!" Link said.

"Ha, a true warrior like me won't hurt any innocent perso-"

It was then that Talo realized he just accidently poked Link in the stomach with his sword.

"You little brat!" Link said grabbing Talo's cheeks and stretching them. Beth took that chance to jump on Link's back, knocking the three of them over. With Talo and Beth having fallen on top of Link's back, the three of them started laughing.

Ilia just watched how bright and happy Link was. She gave the faintest of smiles. She snapped out of it quickly when she heard Tort nervously shout "Oh hello Mr. Malo!"

"….ello." Malo said, staring up at Tort. "How's your business handling Tort?"

"V-very good Mr. Malo!" Tort said sweating, "I wanted to thank you again for helping to plot out our trade route through Hyrule!"

"….good." he looked up at Ilia, who broke out into a bit of a sweat. Malo just stared up at her before nodding. "Ms. Ilia." He then walked off to go speak with the other merchants.

Ilia stood blankly as Link, Beth, Talo and Colin all walked up along side her. "I gotta wonder how that little guy could become such a huge influence on the Hylian trade system…" Link said. He turned to Ilia who was doing her face to hide her face under her hat.

"H-Hey Ilia, I like your new hat, where'd you get it?" Link asked.

"Um… it was…" Ilia stammered.

"Ms. Ilia?" asked Tort, "Did you still want your regular order?"

Link grinned, "Pastries huh? You've always liked sweet stuff as a kid."

Ilia then gulped and blurted out "A-Actually I'd just like to get three sweet rolls today Mr. Tort!"

Tort paused for a few seconds before recoiling in terror, a wave of wrinkles ran up his forehead "T-THREE?!"

"Is something wrong…?" Link asked.

"Well… it's… I…"

Luckily for Ilia, she didn't have to say anything else as a loud horn started to bellow out across the village. Everyone stopped their activities and became motionless. All sound had died out aside from the loud horn bellowing across the village.

"T-They're back…" Beth said.

"N-No way!" Talo said, "Is it already that time?!"

"Already what time?" Link asked in confusion.

"It's the Black Jackals…" muttered Tort, adjusting his glasses. "We're in deep trouble…"

* * *

Well that does it for Chapter 2. I'm already almost done with chapter 3, so I hope to upload it ASAP. The real action starts next chapter! ...and that is not in any way an advertising plug to make you guys want to read it! :V


	3. Chapter 3 - The Wild Bandits

Whoo! It's chapter 3 time!

* * *

"Who did you just say is coming?" Link asked as the loud horn sounded off.

"The Black Jackals…" muttered Tort, "That's their warning call."

"Who are the Black Jackals?" Link asked.

"They're a bunch of no-good, creepy jerk monsters who attack our village every few months!" Talo shouted, stomping his foot.

"We've fought them off before, but they keep overpowering the town, and steal whatever they want." Beth said nervously, clinging to Link's hand.

"….they're bad for business." Malo said.

"That's all you have to say about them?" Link asked Malo.

The ground around them then started to rumble. Many merchants quickly started packing up their stands, throwing them onto their carts and carriages and riding off. People still in their homes started closing doors and windows. Some people outside panicked and jumped into bales of hay and behind bushes. A cat that was stuck up a tree quickly ran into a hole where some squirrels were living and the squirrels closed off the hole. A group of horses who were galloping around stopped in their tracks and leaped into the lake, where they hid under some lilypads with frogs on them. The frogs promptly jumped off the pads and into the water.

Link looked around and narrowed his eyes. "Colin, Talo, Beth, Malo, Ilia, you guys better get out of here. I'll have to be ready to fight these guys." He said.

"No way!" shouted Talo, "we're not going to ditch you! We wanna fight!"

"…speak for yourself…" muttered Malo as he walked off casually towards his house.

"I can't risk you guys getting hurt! Just get Ilia to safety!" Link said.

"Link…" Ilia muttered.

Unfortunately, it was too late for them to do anything, as a large group of marauders charged into town. Without even a second hesitation they were smashing and snatching anything they saw.

They were all easily identified by Link as Bulblin warriors, likely remnants of the dark legion. They were riding on the back of giant boars and wielding any kind of weaponry in the book. However, before they could even reach Link, Ilia and the kids, the bandits were blocked by Mayor Bo, along with a group of the braver and stronger villagers in the town.

Bo, with his arms folds and glaring angrily at the Black Jackal gang, shouted "As the mayor of this town, I demand the lot of you leave immediately! You're not welcome here!"

"Yeah, we've had it with you having your way!" shouted Rusl.

"Don't think we're just going to be pushed around again!" shouted a female villagers with a club.

"Bwahahaha!" laughed one of the Bulbin, holding some knives between his fingers, "They really think they have a chance against us!"

"I say we crack the big cheese's head open, show em how to fear us!" said a bigger one, gripping a giant mallet with nails sticking out from it

"Now, now, boys." said a new voice. "We don't wanna go doing that."

Riding up on the bigger boars was a Bulbin, one of the biggest differences being he was much taller and leaner, he wore a pair of purple shades and had hair done in big red spikes. He grinned, showing off some pointy teeth with oddly enough, braces. He wore shoulder pads lines with spikes and a black jacket.

"I think we got off the wrong foot with you guys." The tall Bulbin said to Mayor Bo. "The name's Punk Thrasher, I'm the leader of this gang, the Grimdark Skulls!"

"….didn't you guys call yourselves the Black Jackals last time?" Bo asked.

"Erm, well…" Thrasher muttered, "We're still working on the name! Now, we don't wanna hurt any of you guys, we just come for... let's just call it payment."

"Payment?!" Bo exclaimed.

"Well ya see, the reason more bandits aren't attacking this village is because we claimed it as our stake. And no one messes with the Blood Blades!" Thrasher explained.

"Wait, so you're the Blood Blades now?" Bo asked.

"So we're just here to collect our protection payment." Thrasher said. "Just let us do our business and no one has to get hurt!"

Bo stood still, not saying a word.

"Mayor Bo, comeon, let's fight!" shouted a villager.

"We shouldn't let them take a thing!" said another.

"NO!" Bo shouted, silencing the villagers. "Don't do anything…"

"But Mayor…!"

"Glad you see things our way." grinned Thrasher. "Alright boys, time to go to town!"

The bandits rode into the village, swiping and smashing whatever they pleased.

"Mayor, have you lost your marbles?!" Jagger shouted, "You're just going to let them do what they want?!"

"It's… fine… We can rebuild what's lost or damaged. As long as no one gets hurt, that's the most important thing…" Bo said with his eyes closed and his head down.

"Mayor…" Jagger said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Link, Ilia and the kids decided to hide in a shed as they watched the bandits pillage the town.

"Come on Link!" shouted Talo, "We need to fight back!"

"No…" Link said, "You heard Bo, and even if I wanted to, I don't have my weapons…"

"What?!" shouted Talo "When did that happen?"

"During that trip I made, I was in a bad situation and lost most of them, and anything I was able to hold onto is in the trunk of my basement."

"Man, this sucks!" Talo said, folding his arms.

Link sighed as he laid back on something soft and cushiony. "I was able to help with the goats and the monkeys, but I don't know what we're supposed to do about this. Maybe we could set up some traps for next time or-"

"Um… L-Link…?" Ilia asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could… you move a bit?"

"Huh, why's that?"

"Y-You're laying against…"

Link looked curiously to see he was laying back against Ilia's soft belly. He turned bright red and leapt back. "Ehhh… s-sorry Ilia!"

Ilia's face was flushed an equally bright red. Talo and Beth just laughed their heads off while Colin looked down sheepishly. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a child shouting the five of them all looked to each other and peered out from the shed.

They saw a bandit Bulbin gripping the arm of a little girl who was standing in front of a crop field.

"No!" shouted the little girl, "I won't let you hurt mommy's plants! She worked hard to grow them!"

"You little brat!" shouted the Bulbin "You think you can just get away with hitting me with that rock?! Things would had been fine if you let us be!"

"Ambi!" shouted the girl's mother from the porch.

The Bulbin unsheathed a rapier blade from his belt and raised it up. "This is what you get for messing with us!"

The little girl screamed as the Bulbin brought down the rapier, but it was stopped by someone grabbing the Bulbin arm.

"W-What?! Who're you?!" the bandit asked as he turned to his attacker.

"Ilia!" Link shouted as he ran up to the confrontation. Ilia was doing her best to hold back the Bulbin from hurting Ambi.

"Wow, how the heck she get over there so fast with that body?!" Talo asked, prompting Beth to whack him upside the head.

"Leave her alone!" shouted Ilia as she rose up her hand and smacked the Bulbin in the face with her palm, sending him falling over to the ground out-cold and dropping his rapier.

"Ilia, are you two okay?!" Link asked.

"I'm… fine… " she told Link, gasping for breath, "Are… okay… sweetie?" Ilia asked Ambi.

"Y-yeah, thank you Ms. Ilia!" Ambi said bowing as her mother came running up to take her back to the house.

"Ilia…" Link said grinning, "You showed a lot of guts there."

Ilia turned red, looking downward. "T-Thanks Link…"

"Hey, what's going on here?" shouted a voice. Link and Ilia turned to see a Bulbin with some knives between his teeth. He looked down at his unconscious comrade and saw Link and Ilia standing over him. "Hey! Whatdaya think you're doing?! You wanna start trouble?!"

Link eyed the rapier and took it, holding it ready to battle. "Ilia, get back to where the kids are. I'll handle this guy."

"O-Okay…" Ilia said, turned and waddling off back to the shed as fast as she could.

"Hey, don't run you bloated bitch!" shouted the knife wielding Bulbin. He tried to attack Ilia but Link darted in front of him, blocking the knives with the rapier he picked up.

"Your battle's with me, pal." Link said coldly.

The Bulbin snickered and stepped back, he started juggling the knives effortlessly. "Kee-heehee, I ain't your pal, I'm known as Stabby Dubbe, fastest knife user in Hyrule, I'll cut you to pieces, then I'll cut those pieces to pieces, then I'll cut tho-!"

"Sorry, but I just cut you while you were yapping." Link said.

"H-Huh?" Dubbe asked.

Dubbe then noticed Link had his back to him, with the rapier to his side. Dubbe stood there for a few seconds in confusion, before shouting in pain as a large cut formed along his body, he collapsed to the ground out cold.

"Well it's not a sword like I've used, but it'll have to do for now." Link said.

Soon enough however, a large group of the Bulbins showed up. Punk Thrasher was leading the pack.

"Oi, what the heck's going on here?!" Thrasher shouted. "We told you guys not to mess with us!"

"Sorry pal, but we had no choice." Link said.

"Unbelievable, he took down Dubbe with that old blade?!" asked one of the Bulbin, "I say we tan his hide!"

"Hold it boys, I'll handle this." said Punk Thrasher, getting off his boar and staring down Link. "So kid, you think you can just attack my boys without expecting us to fight back?"

"I didn't want to have to fight, but when you guys start going low enough to be picking on kids, we have no choice." Link said.

"Hmph, guess you're asking for a bruising, you think you can take me and my gang on?" Punk Thrasher asked.

"Oh I think I can." Link said with a confident grin, "After all, I took down your dark lords."

"Heh, you don't think we don't know that Mr. Hero?" Thrasher asked.

"…so you do know me?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I recognize you from our wanted posters. We know you're the one that brought down Zant and Lord Dragmire… but who cares? Without that damned sword that you used to pull the job, you're just another stubborn villager!"

"The Master Sword…" Link muttered, recalling the sacred blade used to destroy evil.

"Well don't worry, I'm being generous, so we ain't gonna destroy this village. That would cut into our looting. Instead, we're gonna teach you not to mess with Team Toxic..." Thrasher said.

"Didn't you guys call yourselves the Blood Blades a second ago?" Link asked.

"Now I'd like to introduce you to a buddy of our's… HEY, GABBRO!" Thrasher suddenly shouted out.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds, then they heard a loud thudding sound, the ground was shaking more then before when the bandits arrived. Link then noticed a shadow on the ground, and looked up to see a large creature standing alongside the Bulbin bandits. He was easily nine feet tall, his body was made of hard brown skin, and wore a bronze helmet on his head and decorated skulls on his shoulders. He held an absurdly large piece of meat in his hand which he effortlessly bit into and tore off the skin from the bone.

"Mr. Hero, I'd like you to meet Bottomless Gabbro, the biggest, toughest bandit in Hyrule!" Thrasher said snickering, his braces giving off a gleam of light.

"Wait… that's a Goron." Link said, reminded of the rock-eating men from Death Mountain.

"Yeah, thanks to his endless gluttony, the Gorons banished him from the mountain and he teamed up with us." Thrasher said, "While most of his kind prefers rocks, this one loves food so much he'll even eat meat!"

"H-Hey boss!" shouted a Bulbin, "He's doing it again!"

Thrasher looked behind him to see Gabbro was chewing on a few Bulbin bandits, who were trying to scramble out of his mouth.

"HEY GABBRO, quit eating them guys!" Thrasher shouted.

"Eeeeh… sorry…" Gabbro said, spitting out the Bulbins. "They remind me of roast Octorok…"

"How do they look anything like Octoroks?!" Thrasher shouted. "A-Anyway, I got a new target for you to clobber!" he then said, pointing to Link.

"Ooooooh, fresh meat…" Gabbro said drooling.

'Oh man...' Link thought to himself.. He brandished the rapier, ready to fight. 'Most of my good weapons are gone, and the things I have in my trunk aren't enough to take on a guy like this…'

Gabbro then bit into the last of the meat on the bone he was carrying and ripped it off, chewing it up. "I eat, now I crush!" he shouted, raising the bone into the air and swinging it down on Link. Link nimbly dodged to the side, barely avoiding it.

'Jees, this guy means business…' Link thought, looking at the huge indent in the ground he made.

By this point, the villagers had heard what was going on and went to see what became of Link. Ilia and the kids showed up as well. What they saw was Link trying his hardest to fight off Bottomless Gabbro.

"Link…" Ilia muttered.

"Don't worry about me…" Link said, forcing himself up. "If you guys get involved they'll go after you. Let me handle this." He charged forward as Gabbro swung his bone to the side, but Link quickly leapt onto the bone, bounded off it into the air, then point his word down at Gabbro's face. He managed to hit him in the forehead… but nothing happened.

"W-What?" Link asked.

Gabbro fumed and swatted Link off of him, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Hahaha, you idiot!" Thrasher said, slapping his leg in hilarity. "Gabbro has a hide tougher then steel! You couldn't hope to pierce it with a simple blade!"

"Damnit…" Link groaned as he tried to force himself up.

"Now take care of him!" Thrasher said. Gabbro obliged and lifted up the bone.

"No, Link!" Ilia shouted, trying to run to save him, but was stopped by Bo. The mayor just hung his head down with tears running from his eyes.

Too injured to roll or dodge out of the way, Link tried to form a defensive stance with the rapier, but it was effortless, and Gabbro brought the bone down and smashed Link with it.

"LIIIINK!" the villagers all shouted.

Gabbro held the bone in place on top of Link. But then rose it up and continued hitting him with it, smashing him repeatedly. The villagers all kept their eyes shut, hearing the loud banging sound. Ilia in particular was clinging to her father's clothes, shaking in fear and worry. Stop Gabbro stopped and moved the bone away from Link. When the dust finally cleared, Link was laying in the ground, his body spread out, and his eyes rolled back.

Thrasher then walked over to the fallen hero, looked him over carefully and smirked. "Well I gotta say, you did better then anyone else could had done." he said. "It's a miracle you're still breathing." He turned to the Bulbin bandits and said "Okay boys, we got what we came for, and taught them a lesson, let's get!"

With that, Thrasher hopped onto the back of his boar, along with the other Bulbin and they rode off. Gabbro said nothing, but followed slowly after the gang.

Meanwhile, Ilia, Bo and the villagers all crowded around Link.

"Link…" Ilia muttered, her eyes full of tears, "H-He's not…"

"Don't worry" Rusl said, "That Bulbin leader was right, he's still alive, but he needs immediate care. Someone get all the red potion and medical supplies we got!"

A group of the villagers nodded and ran off as the others did what they could to help Link. Ilia kneeled down and rubbed Link's head. The young man groaned a little, blinked his eyes a few times, and saw Ilia. She looked down at him worried, but he just gave her a small grin.

"H-Hey Ilia…" Link said, "Guess I bit off more then I could chew…"

"Link… I'm sorry you had to..."

"S-Salright… I suppose this is karma knocking on my door for ditching you guys to begin with…" Link chuckled, before blanking out again.

* * *

Well that ended on a bit of a downer. I'll try to liven things up with the next chapter, but at the same time I'll reveal Link's motive for his departure, and there will be a large focus on Ilia trying to deal with her... erm... largeness. Until then, thanks for reading!


End file.
